← Back to sermon library

Turn with me in your Bibles to 
Matthew 28. Matthew 28, for the last while, we've been considering 
the passion narrative in Matthew's gospel with reference to our 
Lord's Supper services. So we're going to look at chapter 
28, verses 11 to 15 tonight, but I wanna begin reading in 
chapter 27 at verse 62. So beginning in Matthew 27 at 
verse 62, on the next day, which followed the day of preparation, 
the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 
saying, Sir, we remember while he was still alive how that deceiver 
said, after three days I will rise. Therefore, command that 
the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples 
come by night and steal him away, and say to the people, he has 
risen from the dead. So the last deception will be 
worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have 
a guard, go your way, make it as secure as you know how. So 
they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting 
the guard. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week 
began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see 
the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel 
of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the 
stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like 
lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards 
shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel answered 
and said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you 
seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, 
as he said. Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is 
risen from the dead. And indeed, he is going before 
you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, 
I have told you. So they went out quickly from 
the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples 
word. And as they went to tell his 
disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. So they 
came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus 
said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go 
to Galilee and there they will see me. Now, while they were 
going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported 
to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When 
they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they 
gave a large sum of money to the soldiers saying, tell them, 
his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. 
And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and 
make you secure. So they took the money and did 
as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly reported 
among the Jews until this day. Then the 11 disciples went away 
into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for 
them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been 
given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make 
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching 
them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Let 
us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
the written word. We thank you for this time that we can gather 
together and contemplate in a special way our Lord's death on our behalf. 
As we've seen that in this narrative in Matthew's gospel, we now come 
to the resurrection. We come to the lie that was told 
concerning the resurrection, and we pray, God in heaven, that 
you would just guide us now by your Spirit. cause us to reflect 
upon these truths, and cause us to find great joy and encouragement 
and comfort in our blessed Savior. Again, forgive us for all of 
our sin and its darkening influence on our minds and hearts, and 
bless our time together, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, here 
in chapter 28, obviously last time we saw the resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then the chapter ends with 
what we call the Great Commission. Our blessed Savior gives this 
mandate to his church to go therefore and to make disciples of all 
the nations. But prior to that, and it's only 
in Matthew's gospel, and I'll explain why in just a moment, 
we have this sort of counter Great Commission. We have an 
anti-Christian Great Commission. We have a deception and a lie 
that was given in order to propagate this to the Jews such that they 
would not believe that Jesus was in fact risen from the dead. So the counter mission to the 
Great Commission is found in chapter 28 verses 11 to 15. After the resurrection, the religious 
leaders go into damage control. They go into damage control mode 
and they have to cook up a particular answer, a response, as to why 
the tomb is empty. Matthew closes his gospel with 
these two sections concerning the propagation of a message. In the one, Jesus gives instruction 
and gives as a promise his abiding presence with his church even 
to the end of the age. In the other, we see that they 
are given a lie or told to give a lie to propagate it, and so 
that they could confound or distort or try and ruin the Christian 
message. So tonight we'll look first at 
the explanation of the soldiers in verse 11, and then secondly, 
the creation of the false narrative in verses 12 to 15. But larger 
than that, we ought to understand that the devil always rages against 
the truth. And the devil does so through 
human means. In this instance, he takes the 
religious leadership. In this instance, he takes the 
soldiers who are easily paid off. And in this instance, he 
tries to cover the truth of the resurrection with this lie that 
the disciples came and stole the body. This sort of thing 
continues unabated in our own day. wherever the true gospel 
is preached, you will nevertheless find in professing churches, 
heretics. You will find those that distort 
the message. You will find those that add, 
say for instance, works to faith in the matter of justification. 
The apostle Paul in Galatians 1 condemns such and pronounces 
anathema upon them. And he says that there are those 
who actually want to distort the truth. There are those that 
actually want to lead you away from the truth as it is in Jesus. 
So Christ Most High rules and reigns at the right hand of the 
Father. 1 Peter 5 tells us that the devil roams about like a 
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And if we ask the 
question, how does the devil engage in his wickedness, it 
is through lies and murder. Remember Jesus in John chapter 
eight, in his confrontation with the religious leaders, he tells 
the leaders there, you are of your father, the devil, and the 
desires of your father you want to do. He says that he was a 
murderer and a liar from the beginning. So it shouldn't surprise 
us that lies and deception and fraud are often propagated in 
the name of religion to try and cover the truth as it is in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. So let's look at the explanation 
of the soldiers in verse 11. Notice that in verse 11a, the 
women obey the instructions that they were given. Go back for 
just a moment to 28.9. And as they went to tell his 
disciples, these are the women, the women who were present at 
the crucifixion, the women who were present at the burial, and 
then again at the resurrection. So as they went to tell his disciples, 
behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. Remember a very sort 
of ordinary way for someone who had just been raised from the 
dead to sort of greet somebody. It was akin to our hello. Imagine 
that you see somebody that had just been raised from the dead, 
somebody that you knew and loved very affectionately. You knew 
him over the course of three years. Now he's raised from the 
dead and all he says to you is hello. Probably that would leave 
you wondering, well, is there a lot more you wanna tell us? 
But that's what Jesus says. So they came and held him by 
the feet and worshiped him. A great illustration of what 
in theology is called the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union teaches 
that there's one Christ, one person, two natures, divinity 
and humanity. The fact that they hold him by 
the feet underscores his humanity. The fact that they worship him 
underscores his divinity. Yet one Christ, one person, two 
natures. So that is the worship afforded 
to him. And notice he doesn't rebuff 
them. Notice he doesn't rebuke them. Notice he doesn't say, 
oh, why would you do that? In other instances in the Bible, 
when an angel, for instance, is worshiped in the book of Revelation, 
he says, don't do that. I am a servant alongside of you. But when they worship Jesus, 
Jesus receives it. And then Jesus gives them instruction 
in verse 10. Jesus said to them, do not be 
afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go 
to Galilee and there they will see me. The sort of pinnacle 
of covenant blessing is the sight of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
that union and communion that we have with him. So they respond 
favorably. They obey. And verse 11a tells 
us now while they were going, And then it moves secondly into 
the soldier's report. The soldier's report to the chief 
priest, according to 11b. Now these women were probably 
ecstatic. They were greatly joyful. In 
fact, look back at verse eight. So they went out quickly from 
the tomb with fear and great joy. Two concepts that are consistent 
in the Christian's heart. You can fear God and have joy 
and thanksgiving and gratitude mingled with that fear. So they 
went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran 
to bring his disciples word. After they saw Christ, after 
they worshiped Christ, I doubt that that mitigated their fear 
or their joy. In other words, it probably increased 
it. We have seen him risen from the dead. That would certainly 
instill a degree of trembling in the heart of any sane or rational 
human. But as well, we have seen him 
raised from the dead. It would increase the joy. It 
would increase the gladness. It would increase the happiness 
that our savior who died has now been raised again from the 
dead. So they are going, but the soldiers 
are probably slinking along. The soldiers failed at their 
job. The soldiers were derelict in their duty. As far as we know 
at this point, not reading ahead and understanding that there's 
going to be this conspiracy to commit fraud, but right now they 
have lost their charge. They had only one job, and that 
one job was to protect a grave, and in that grave was a dead 
man. That's a job that just about 
any sentient human being could accomplish. You don't need great 
skill sets. You don't need great wisdom. 
You don't need to have been accomplished in the workforce outside of that. 
All you have to do is be there and breathe. And yet they failed. They failed miserably because 
the tomb is now empty. So I doubt that they were filled 
with great joy. They might have had great fear, 
but not great joy. So the soldiers slink along. 
France says the opening clause invites the reader to compare 
two groups hurrying away from the tomb with a message to deliver. The women are going to go tell 
the disciples to meet them in Galilee, and the soldiers have 
to go and say, guess what? The one simple job that we had 
given to us, we failed to do it. So the soldiers report to 
the chief priests as they had been placed at their disposal 
by Pilate. Go back to chapter 27. Chapter 
27, the chief priests or the elders, the Pharisees, they come 
together to Pilate. They say, Sir, verse 63, we remember 
while he was still alive how that deceiver said, Amazing they 
didn't burst into flames. These men were frauds, they were 
deceits, they were liars, and they followed their father, the 
devil. And they have the gall to say of Jesus Christ that he 
is a deceiver? But notice, after three days 
I will rise. Therefore, command that the tomb 
be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come 
by night and steal him away, and say to the people, he is 
risen from the dead. So the last deception will be 
worse than the first. So Pilate said to them, you have 
a guard, go your way, make it as secure as you know how. So 
they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting 
the guard. So Pilate made these soldiers responsible ultimately 
to these religious leaders. So now these soldiers have to 
go and report to these religious leaders what has occurred, that 
the tomb is in fact empty. Now notice that the soldiers 
report all the things that had happened. Now that includes the 
earthquake, chapter 28, verse 2a. It's a pretty significant 
event. It would include the descent 
and presence of the angel, chapter 28, verse 2b. Again, a very significant event. That would include the rolled 
back stone, according to 28.2c, and ultimately the empty tomb. Now, you'd like to think that 
if soldiers had that kind of a story, you'd be a bit more 
interested in it than simply trying to silence it, simply 
trying to neutralize it. This reflects the enmity, this 
reflects the antithesis, this reflects the abject hatred of 
these religious leaders, of these Jewish leaders, against our Lord 
Jesus Christ. They had plotted to kill him 
in Matthew 12. They put that plan into practice 
in Matthew 26. They actually succeed in this 
event, and now he's risen from the dead, and the soldiers come 
back with this amazing story filled with supernatural phenomena, 
and their only desire is to silence it? Their only desire is to stop 
their mouths? Davies and Ellison make the comment. 
told all that had happened underlines the willful unbelief of the Jewish 
leaders. For surely they should ponder 
the guard's story of a supernatural visitation. Wouldn't you think? Well again, you see they are 
presuppositionally committed against our Lord and against 
his resurrection. Now notice secondly in terms 
of the false narrative in verses 12 to 15. The background, we've 
read it in verses 62 to 66 in chapter 27. So the two accounts 
here, 28, 11 to 15, and what we see in 27, 62 to 66, are only 
found in Matthew's Gospel. Now, when we say that, or I say 
that, that doesn't mean it's therefore untrue. There are particular 
details concerning the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus that 
you may only find in one of the individual gospel narratives. 
Well, this account in terms of the concoction by the Jews with 
reference to Pilate and the guards and this narrative are in Matthew's 
gospel. The reason for that is because 
Matthew's original audience was originally Jewish. Now we certainly 
use the gospel narrative, we use Matthew, obviously we use 
Mark and Luke and John, but they each had a specific context or 
a specific target audience. Matthew wrote to Jews, Luke writes 
to Gentiles, Mark writes to Romans, and John writes for everybody, 
mainly the church. Not that the others, again, don't 
write for everybody, but there's a specific context. And then 
if you notice that this particular lie gained traction among the 
Jews. Look at verse 15 in chapter 28. So they took the money and did 
as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly reported 
among the Jews until this day. It had traction to at least the 
middle of the second century. There was a particular father 
who had a writing. It was Justin Martyr. in his 
dialogue with Trifo, and he lived in AD 110 to AD 165. So at least up until the middle 
of the 2nd century, this lie was still being purported. Now, 
it has survived into the 21st century under what has been called 
the Swoon Theory. Muslim theology, not all, but 
some, teaches the Swoon Theory. All deny the death and resurrection 
of the Savior, but some propagate the swoon theory. The swoon theory 
means that Jesus was mostly dead. He wasn't all the way dead. He was just mostly dead. And 
so they put a mostly dead Savior into the grave, and there he 
healed. and there he came back to full 
strength, and from there he left that tomb, and then it was popularly 
reported that he had risen from the dead. That has been popularized 
by James Cameron, a Hollywood producer. He made a so-called 
documentary that propagated this lie, this fraud, and this deception. But in terms of Matthew's inclusion, 
it was first and foremost directed to the Jews. As well, notice 
the irony of the situation. Look at verse 12. It says, When 
they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they 
gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, Tell them 
his disciples came at night and stole them away while we slept. 
Now, if you go back to chapter 27 at verse 64, this is the thing 
they allegedly feared. This was the thing they allegedly 
feared, that the disciples would come and steal his body. Well, 
when he's raised from the dead, they then invoke what they fear 
as the deception or as the lie in order to cover up the truth. 
Notice in 2764, therefore command that the tomb be made secure 
until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal 
him away and say to the people, he has risen from the dead. So 
the last deception will be worse than the first. Wait a minute, 
fellas, that is precisely what you were afraid of. Now you're 
gonna actually bribe these guards to propagate this? Oh yeah, that's 
far more appealing to us than admitting the truth that he has 
risen. You see the great lengths that 
the wicked go to to try to cover up the truth as it is in Jesus. 
It would be beautiful and blessed and wonderful and awesome if 
the church of Jesus Christ took the same pains to propagate the 
truth that the liars take in order to try and cover the truth. 
The Church of Jesus Christ needs to get serious in terms of going 
on the offense. We're always apologizing. We're 
always feeble and weak in the eyes of the world. I'm not suggesting 
that we engage in machismo or we get guns and we, you know, 
slay everybody. But brethren, we need to adopt 
the mindset of the Apostle Paul in Acts 25. You can turn there 
for just a moment. A mindset that is desperately 
needed in our own generation. I mentioned John the Baptist 
this morning as a model minister that we ought to pray for our 
men to be like. We mentioned or we saw in 2 Timothy 
1, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, don't be ashamed of me or of 
the testimony of our Lord, but rather be prepared to suffer, 
be prepared to suffer pain, be prepared to suffer persecution 
or oppression, be prepared to suffer imprisonment, be prepared 
to suffer martyrdom. What happened to that ethos? 
What happened to that mindset? What happened to that reality 
when the people of God would march willingly to the stake 
in order to burn for our Lord Jesus Christ? The moment a hint, 
a tiny whiff of oppression comes our way and 90% of the churches 
in Canada shut their doors with reference to public worship. 
Look at Acts 26 at verse 24. Paul is before Festus. And he says, now, I mean, he's 
before Agrippa, but Festus is present. It says, now as he thus 
made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you 
are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you 
mad. Do you know how we respond today? 
We respond like, well, I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend. We'll 
never say such things again. What did God most high that men 
say what Paul said? But he said, I am not mad, most 
noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. The godless, 
the Antichrist, the wicked, the wretched, they take great pains 
to cover up the truth as it is in Jesus. If the church took 
as great of pains to propagate that message, I suspect we'd 
be in a whole better place. Back to Matthew chapter 28. When 
we look at this background, when we look at what's happening here, 
the situation shows the emptiness of the words of the religious 
leaders in the passion narrative. Look at chapter 27, specifically 
at verse 42. 27, well, 41, likewise the chief 
priests also mocking with the scribes and elders said, he saved 
others himself he cannot save. If he is the king of Israel, 
let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. 
No, you won't, because he came down from the cross, he went 
into the tomb and he was raised again the third day. You're not 
believing on him, are you? You were liars then, you're liars 
now, and you're gonna cover this up by fraudulent deception. It 
does illustrate the accuracy of Christ's words in Luke chapter 
16. Remember that story of the rich man and Lazarus. And the 
rich man says, the Lord send a prophet to my brothers so that 
they may hear the truth and they may believe. Jesus says, if they 
do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, 
though one rise from the dead. So back to Matthew 28, specifically 
at verse 12, notice they meet together, verse 12a, when they 
had assembled with the elders and consulted together. Whenever 
we read that in the gospel narratives with reference to the opponents 
of Jesus Christ, it should be reminiscent of Psalm 2. Psalm 
2.2 tells us, and the rulers take counsel together against 
the Lord and against his Christ. Turn back to 26, chapter 26 at 
verses three and four. Notice. Then the chief priests, 
the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace 
of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take 
Jesus by trickery and kill him. But they said, not during the 
feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. Turn over to 
verse 59. Verse 59, now the chief priests, 
the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against 
Jesus to put him to death. Chapter 27, verse 1, when morning 
came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted 
against Jesus to put him to death. And then 2762, same sort of an 
emphasis. On the next day, which followed 
the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered 
together to Pilate. What can we conclude? Anytime 
these guys get together, bad things happen. Not much has changed 
in terms of politics. Not much has changed in terms 
of bad or false religion. Now, notice the plot of the leaders 
in verses 12b to 14. First of all, they consider a 
bribe. It was pay off the soldiers. I mean, Come on, money talks, 
right? And we see that it does avail with these soldiers. These 
soldiers understand that maxim, money talks. Notice, the payoff 
is reminiscent of the religious leaders paying Judas to betray 
Christ. Go back to 26, 14 to 16. 26, 
14. Then one of the twelve, called 
Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, What are you 
willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And they counted 
out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity 
to betray Him. Same sort of an emphasis. They'll 
just pay. One wants to know, where did 
they get that money? Where did they get that money? 
Did they take it out of their own accounts? Probably not. They 
probably took it out of the coffers in the temple. They probably 
took it from the people they were serving. See, there is nothing 
new under the sun, brethren. Oftentimes, not all the time, 
but oftentimes, persons and places of authority take money from 
us to ruin us. It's an unfortunate reality, 
but such is the case. So that's what's happening here. 
One commentator says, whereas Judas had been bought to make 
use of what he knew, these guards are to be bought off to suppress 
what they knew. Spurgeon said, for money, Christ 
was betrayed. And for money, the truth about 
his resurrection was kept back as far as it could be. So it 
was money, in terms of the human means, that these men used to 
facilitate the execution of an innocent man. Remember that. 
Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners in the language 
of the Apostle in Hebrews chapter 7. In the language of Pontius 
Pilate, the pagan, the heathen, the godless man that examined 
him, confesses three times, I find no guilt in this man. I find 
no guilt in this man. I find no guilt in this man. 
So why are you going to go along with the Jews and execute him 
by crucifixion? There is corruption in our world, 
brethren. And if we don't see it today, 
we should at least be able to see it back then and at least 
entertain the possibility that it may make a reemergence in 
our own day. The payoff demonstrated their 
hatred for Christ. The payoff demonstrated their 
hatred for the truth. They used money to try and cover 
up the truth. The payoff as well demonstrated 
their own love of power. See, we always think it's just 
theology, it's just religion, it's just our understanding of 
the Bible where in Jesus and the religious leaders, but it 
adds. Remember I said, and I've said probably on more occasions 
than you'd like to remember, that the Sanhedrin was the highest 
court in Israel at that time. It was made up of 71 men. There 
was a leader, the chief among them, which was the high priest, 
and then the 70 others. It reflects what was done back 
in the days of the Exodus, when Jethro gave good counsel to Moses 
to delegate his authority so that the judging of Israel would 
not kill Moses. But with reference to this Sanhedrin, 
they not only undertook religious and biblical and theological 
matters, but politics. Do you think it was just biblical 
interpretation that animated their hatred for Jesus? Or was 
it the politics involved? They had power over the people. When Jesus comes and starts preaching 
truth, when Jesus comes and starts preaching the way of salvation, 
and the arrival of the kingdom of God, that incensed and outraged 
these men. They didn't like the fact that 
now the crowds were going after Jesus. They say as much, if we 
don't do something to stop him, then all the world will go after 
him. That was a politically motivated 
opposition to our blessed savior. The payoff demonstrated how far 
they will sink in their depravity. Matthew Henry is helpful here. 
He says, let us, meaning the Christian church, never starve 
a good cause when we see a bad one so liberally supported. In 
other words, if these men are going to use their money or their 
people's money in order to engage in such lawlessness and recklessness 
and wickedness, And if we see in our own generation the sorts 
of money that is spent, say, on the propagation of Planned 
Parenthood or on the propagation of other moral evils and atrocities, 
when we see that the God-haters are so inclined to spend money 
to advance their wicked agenda, listen to Matthew Henry, let 
us never starve a good cause. If there are good causes, brethren, 
let us fund them liberally and joyfully and with a cheerful 
heart. Now notice the fraudulent narrative 
that they construct in verse 13. Again, it is what it was 
that they were afraid of. This was the thing that they 
were allegedly afraid would happen. So tell them his disciples came 
at night and stole him away while we slept. So in 27 at verse 64, 
this is the thing they feared. R.T. Frantz says, now that something 
much worse has happened, the actual resurrection of Christ, 
this is in their mind, right? It is better to pretend that 
their plan to thwart Jesus' disciples had failed than to admit the 
reality of the resurrection they knew his disciples would now 
claim as fact. So again, they're in damage control 
mode and they have to try and cover this up. And just as we 
read the narrative, perhaps we don't ponder it as we ought, 
but this is vicious. This is vile and reprehensible. With reference to the wickedness 
involved, they portray the soldiers as derelict in their duty. Now 
brethren, dereliction of duty is never a good thing, but in 
the Roman Empire it was certainly not a good thing. Dereliction 
of duty is typically a capital offense. If you're in military 
service or you're charged with something that affects national 
security, then if you are asleep on the job or if you wander off 
on the job or you're not diligent on the job, you can be executed. As well, the idea that they portray 
the grave robbers, or the disciples rather, as grave robbers. Again, 
a potentially capital offense. I mean, brethren, if this gained 
traction, which it did, and the fact that the disciples weren't 
rounded up and executed, shows us the good kindness and the 
providence of God Almighty. And as well, it portrayed Jesus 
as a fraud. See, it wasn't just the testimony 
of the women that He has risen. It was the testimony of Moses. 
It was the testimony of the prophets. It was the testimony of our Lord 
Jesus. Matthew 16, Matthew 17, Matthew 
20, Matthew 26, he tells his disciples that he must go to 
Jerusalem, he must be tried, he must be executed, and he must 
rise again from the dead. So if this is the case, what 
they perpetuate is true, it does indict the soldiers, it indicts 
the disciples, and it indicts the Lord Jesus Christ. But as 
well, it is a grossly implausible explanation. A grossly implausible 
explanation. Now here's where the apologetics 
come to play. Because people challenge the 
resurrection narrative. People have trouble with that 
even in our own day. They may not subscribe to the 
swoon theory. They may not be, you know, these 
kinds of reckless, lawless wretches that want to deceive and fraud 
and all that sort of thing. There's a lot of people out there 
that just discount the resurrection. Consider with reference to the 
disciples, if this in fact was true, that the disciples of Jesus 
came along and stole his dead body. Remember, they had abandoned 
Christ, according to chapter 26 and verse 56. They fled, they 
left him. After the resurrection, according 
to John chapter 20, they were hiding in a house for fear of 
the Jews. So is it plausible that they 
would risk detection by guards, Roman soldiers, men that were 
not foreigners to doing harm, to hurting people, to inflicting 
pain, to killing people. This was their job. What'd you 
do at work today, honey? I killed a few guys. Okay, would 
you like some bread with your soup? I mean, these were the 
types of men that you were dealing with. So is it plausible that 
they would risk detection by guards steal a body. Now, this 
is after they strip the body, take the grave clothes, fold 
them up, and lay them down in a neat little pile, according 
to John 20, verses 5 and 6. Would they engage in a potentially 
capital crime, falsify the resurrection, only to be reproached, persecuted, 
and even put to death. Think about it. Did the resurrection 
story, did the resurrection, I don't want to say story. Story 
doesn't always mean something false, but sometimes it sounds 
false. The resurrection reality. Did that gain the disciples lots 
of money and accolades in the empire? Did everybody say, oh, 
those are the fellows that preach the resurrected Jesus. Now those 
who were saved saw the apostles in a wonderful light. Those who 
were saved appreciated the ministry of these men who had seen and 
testified concerning the life, death and resurrection of our 
Lord. But those who did not believe held them in contempt. They reproached 
them, they persecuted them, and they even killed them. We saw 
2 Timothy this morning, 2 Timothy 4, Paul is sure that he is going 
to die. Nero was a madman, and Nero gave 
the kill order for the apostle Paul. What was Paul's crime against 
the empire? Preaching the gospel, the life, 
death, and resurrection, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Very implausible 
at the level of the disciples. But consider the soldiers. Notice 
in verse 13. Tell them his disciples came 
at night and stole him away while we slept. So the soldiers were 
allegedly asleep. All of them at the same time, 
they weren't bright enough to take shifts. They weren't smart 
enough to say, okay, I'm going to get a bit of shut eye, you 
go ahead and watch guard. They didn't learn the lesson 
of the Coneys at least to that level. But as well, none of them 
heard the disciples roll away a stone and remove a body. I mean, they were, all of them, 
very good sleepers, to be sure. And then consider the evidentiary 
value of a sleeping witness. Imagine that in court. Your honor, 
my witness here, he happened to be asleep through the whole 
event, but he knows exactly what happened. What do you think your 
honor is going to say? Today, they're not that bright, 
but back then, they might have said, how would he have known 
what happened if he was asleep? So the evidentiary value of a 
sleeping witness is null and void. And if they did know that 
it was the disciples, which is what the fraud entails, his disciples 
came at night and stole him away while we slept. The disciples? 
Really? You were asleep and yet you intuit 
that it was them? Well, if it were them or was 
them, not always sure how to say that, but if it was them, 
then go to their house and investigate. Look in their garage, look in 
their backyards, see if there's a mound of dirt somewhere. Do 
your job and investigate this particular scenario. It is most 
implausible what these men concoct in terms of a narrative to cover 
the truth. Now, notice their promise to 
the guards in verse 14. Verse 14 says, and if this comes 
to the governor's ears, this is Pontius Pilate, if this comes 
to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. 
Now, the problem would be when Pilate found out about this. 
If Pilate knew that his guards were that derelict in their duty, 
what do you think Pilate would do with those men? He would have 
them executed. He would have them killed. He 
would have them quickly dispatched because they were wretched. And 
as well, if things happen the way that they said, remember 
this was their original fear of the Jews, according to 2764, 
we don't want it to be the case that these disciples come and 
steal the body and then the last deception is greater than the 
first. Well, if this was in fact the case that, I mean, this is 
what Pilate should have thought if it had ever come to him, which 
is very unlikely, but he should have said, well, why didn't you 
report them for dereliction of duty so that I could get rid 
of them because they failed in their particular mission? The 
religious leaders suggest that they will appease Pilate and 
make them secure. Well, a peace pilot is most likely 
bribe him, most likely will pay him off too, will keep him off 
your back. But if you were those soldiers, 
would you be that quick and willing to think that these men would 
make you secure? I certainly wouldn't. I don't 
think these were the brightest bulbs in the chandelier and bless 
God or bless rather these religious leaders that they found the most 
foolish men that they could possibly find to carry out this subterfuge. Now notice finally in terms of 
the propagation of the narrative in verse 15. There is the compliance 
of the soldiers. It is the grim reality that money 
talks. The guards were willing to admit 
to a crime, dereliction of duty, and aid the religious leaders 
in propagating a myth for a payday and for the promise of security. 
It's a sad event in life, isn't it, where every man has his price? 
Christians ought not to be like that. We should never deny our 
Savior. We should never deny the brethren. We should never 
speak ill of the things of God Most High. We should never call 
into question the Word of God. We should be prepared to not 
recant. We should be prepared that if 
they put a gun to our head, we maintain fidelity to our Sovereign 
Lord, even to the bitter end. Now some say, well, I don't know 
if I could do that. I would imagine that was the 
confession of everybody in the history of the church. Remember 
that God gives grace for the time. You don't have grace to 
go stand in the fire right now, because you don't need to go 
stand in the fire right now. But when they haul you off to 
the fire, you can trust in God Most High, who gives grace to 
you, so that you will stand in the fire. So that you will be 
Thomas Hawke, to be able to confess that Christ is Lord of the fire. So we need to be willing to maintain 
fidelity even to the end. Spurgeon said, may none of us 
ever be affected by considerations of profit and loss in matters 
of doctrine, matters of duty, and matters of right and wrong. 
That is a principle the church needs to imbibe. That is a principle 
that the people of God need to imbibe. May none of us ever be 
affected by considerations of profit and loss in matters of 
doctrine, matters of duty, and matters of right and wrong. The 
world is filled with people that will vacillate. The world is 
filled with people that capitulate. The world is filled with people 
that will turn on a dime. But the people of God, with reference 
to their God and their blessed Savior Christ, need to persevere 
to the very end. God gives grace for such events. Now notice the propagation of 
the lie. Why do you think such a narrative 
would have gained traction among the Jews? Look at verse 15. So they took the money and did 
as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly reported 
among the Jews until this day. Shameful, isn't it? It's a deception, 
it's a fraud, it's a lie. As I mentioned before with Justin 
and his dialogue with Trifo, it continued at least until the 
middle part of the second century. So that's in the mid 100s. Most 
likely it was able to gain traction in the first place because the 
scientific impossibility of the resurrection. You can hear them 
now. Well, the science. doesn't lead 
us to believe this. The science doesn't ever demonstrate 
resurrection from the dead. That's why there's something 
called miracle. That's why God in his ordinary 
providence works according to what we call the laws of science. But there are those extraordinary 
workings of God wherein he does miraculous things. Why? Because he's God. Why? Because things like the resurrection 
from the dead are necessary for the salvation of our vile, guilty 
selves. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses and he was raised for our justification, Romans 
4.25. Secondly, the refusal to believe 
that God would raise one like Jesus from the dead. Whatever 
their messianic expectation was, and they had it, Jesus didn't 
fit the bill. As far as they were concerned, 
Messiah would come, Messiah would conquer the Roman Empire, Messiah 
would subjugate the Roman Empire, Messiah would be enthroned now 
on earth, and Messiah would make sure that all the Jews had everything 
they would ever want. They looked for a temporal and 
earthly kingdom. They looked for things that the 
prophets were not speaking of. The prophets were speaking of 
the coming of Christ to save his people from their sins. The 
prophets were speaking of the Christ in his first coming, who 
would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He would 
come to die. He would come to be blood atonement. 
He would come as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the 
world. That's not what they were looking for. So as far as they 
were concerned, why would God Most High raise this Jesus from 
the dead? He doesn't meet our expectations. 
He's not what we're looking for. Well, the problem is your expectations 
and what you're looking for. You have to align yourself with 
the word of God. Remember this morning in Matthew 
5, verse 39, Jesus indicts the religious leaders of his day. 
You search the scriptures for in them, you think you have eternal 
life, but these are they which testify of me. So whatever it 
is you were doing in all that time you were searching the scripture 
for eternal life, you missed it by a million miles. You missed 
the Messiah. And in the same instance or in 
the same way, most likely they probably wondered, how would 
God raise a man like him from the dead? And then the willful 
suppression of the facts for fear of the consequences. They 
had rejected the one God had sent as Israel's Messiah. And then finally, and Calvin 
speaks to this, the judgment of God. Why did they do this? 
Why did people believe this? Why do people believe the lie 
instead of the truth? Calvin says it was the finishing 
stroke of the vengeance of God to blind the Jews, that the resurrection 
of Christ was buried by the perjury of the soldiers, and that so 
gross a falsehood was believed. Do you mean when you believe 
bad things? Do you mean when you believe 
bad doctrine? When you believe error and heresy 
and falsehood about God and about his Christ, that could be an 
indicator that you're under the judgment of God? Yes, it could 
be an indicator that you're under the judgment of God. See, when 
God blesses, when God opens eyes, when God causes persons to be 
born again, they have no problem with the empty tomb. The God 
who spoke this world into being, out of all things, out of nothing, 
by the word of his power, in the space of six days and all 
very good, that God is most able to raise his son from the dead. So when we are born again, when 
we have eyes to see, when we put the glasses on, everything 
comes in sharp relief and we have no problem with the miraculous. 
But for those who cannot see, for those who are constantly 
confounded, those who are in a stupor. In fact, Paul speaks 
of this in Romans 11, that God gives the Jew a spirit of a stupor 
in their spirit so that they don't understand the truth as 
it is in Jesus. There is a partial hardening 
of the Jews according to Romans chapter 11. John Gill makes the 
same observation, "...to which judicial blindness and hardness 
of heart they were given up, as to believe a lie, which had 
no appearance of truth in it." Now in conclusion, just a few 
thoughts. First, the wickedness of the religious leaders. You'll 
notice when I preach through gospel narratives, I typically 
go there. And I don't go there simply to pick on these men, 
but to try and stimulate in our own minds that there is nothing 
new under the sun. There's not a brand new opposition 
against Christ. There's not brand new atheism 
against God. There's not brand new, you know, 
developed arguments as to why we should repudiate and reject 
the Bible. This stuff is been around or has been around. Solomon 
wasn't kidding. There is nothing new under the 
sun. Do you know there were early heretical charismatics in the 
second century? You know, we think of tongue 
speaking and the weirdness that goes on under Pentecostalism 
and charismaticism as a relatively new thing. No, it's not a relatively 
new thing. There were the Montanists that 
engaged in such phenomena. the Jehovah's Witnesses today? 
What is their tantamount doctrine? What is their operating and fundamental 
principle? Jesus is not God. This isn't 
brand new. This isn't developed with Charles 
Taze Russell in the 1800s. This goes back to the Arian controversy 
in the early church, when they said, or they maintained, there 
was a time when the sun was not. You see, there is nothing new 
under the sun, not only in terms of heresy and doctrinal defection, 
but in terms of the human psyche. Men sinned then, men sin now. And very often it's the same 
sort of sin. I mean, we get better at it in 
terms of being able to do it digitally. We get better at it 
in terms of doing it through email and text and whatever, 
but we're still the same sort of sinners. In the first place, 
the accusation against the disciples or the accusation of the disciples 
was a horrific charge, a criminal offense, a capital offense. Now 
remember, these guards were allegedly asleep, and yet they know that 
it was the disciples that came and stole the body? Let's just 
assume for the moment that this happened. Let's just assume for 
the moment that grave robbers actually took the body of Jesus, 
which is obviously a false assumption. To blame the disciples for that? 
would have meant death for those disciples. I mean, these are 
the kinds of people that have no regard for life. These are 
the kinds of people that go for political expediency. These are 
the kinds of people that will do whatever it takes to sort 
of cover their tracks and make sure that the truth does not 
get out. It is horrifying. as well the various plots against 
Jesus, to destroy him, Matthew 12, 14, to take him by deception 
and kill him, Matthew 26, three to five, to pay Judas to betray 
him, Matthew 26, 14 to 15, and then pay soldiers to discredit 
him in Matthew 28, 11 to 15. That's a lot of animosity toward 
the Savior. That's a lot of hatred for Jesus. That's a lot of enmity for one 
who only went about doing good. What was Jesus' crime? Jesus 
had no crime. Again, holy, harmless, and undefiled. 
I find no fault in him. The crime was is that he threatened 
them. The crime was is that he would 
take away their prestige. He would take away their power. 
He would make it such that the Romans would come in and take 
away their lives. It was all about them, selfish, 
narcissistic people that want to kill somebody in order to 
cover their own tracks. And then, of course, the attempt 
to destroy the gospel message. They seem to inherently know 
what Paul will later write in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You 
can turn there. They seem to inherently know 
what Paul would later write in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 at verses, 
excuse me, 12 to 19. If we discredit the resurrection, 
if we kill that narrative, if we destroy the reality that he 
rose from the dead, then what happens to the gospel? It collapses. It falls. It shows a defeated 
Savior. It shows a man who tried. He 
did live a perfect life. It shows a man who tried, he 
went to his own death for what he thought were his people, but 
the fact that he didn't rise again, everything crumbles in 
at that point. That's why Romans 4.25 links 
justification to resurrection, delivered up because of our offenses, 
raised for our justification. So notice in chapter 15 at verse 
12, Now, if Christ is preached that He has been raised from 
the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection 
of the dead? But if there is no resurrection 
of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, 
then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, 
and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified 
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up if, 
in fact, the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, 
then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your 
faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then 
also those who have fallen asleep and Christ have perished. If 
in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men, 
the most pitiable. You take the resurrection out 
and the whole thing collapses. These Jews knew that. These Jews 
understood that. And these Jews had to overcome 
the narrative by their deception and their fraud. Secondly, notice 
the contrast between the missions. You have the Great Commission 
in verses 16 to 20, and you have the Counter Great Commission 
in verses 11 to 15. The religious leaders use bribe 
money to commission the soldiers to spread lies. The religious 
leaders use bribe money to commission the soldiers to spread lies. 
The risen Christ uses the promise of his presence to commission 
his followers to spread the truth. Notice in verse 18, all authority 
has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and 
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching 
them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. bribe money 
to propagate the heresy and the promise of his presence to propagate 
the truth. Secondly, the religious leader's 
message gains traction among the Jews, according to verse 
15. The risen Christ's message gains traction among all nations. Go therefore and make disciples 
of all the nations. There's an obvious contrast between 
the two missions, the mission of fraud and the mission of truth. And then thirdly, the religious 
leaders died and stood before God in judgment. The risen Christ 
is with his church always, even to the end of the age. Calvin 
says, but though this falsehood obtained currency among the Jews, 
this did not prevent the truth of the gospel from flying at 
liberty to the very ends of the earth, as it always rises victorious 
over all the obstacles in the world. Amen and amen. Praise God that though there 
are those who want to engage in fraud and deception and lies, 
there is nevertheless a true church. There is nevertheless 
a continuum. There is nevertheless faithful 
disciples, even in our own generation. We prayed for several this morning 
in our 930 hour. that take the Great Commission 
seriously, that have gone to the uttermost parts of the earth 
to proclaim the lordship, the kingship, and the glory of Jesus 
Christ, and the reality that all who look to Him in faith 
will have everlasting life. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, 
we thank you for your word and we thank you for your glory and 
your majesty and for the excellence and power that you display in 
the empty tomb. We thank you for the risen Savior, 
the ascended Savior, the reigning at the right hand of the Father 
Savior, and we look forward to his returning glory to judge 
the living and the dead. And may all of us be cleansed 
in his precious blood and clothed in his precious righteousness 
and ready to enter in to that heavenly kingdom on that day. 
Father, again, if any here do not know the Lord Jesus, open 
their hearts and cause them to receive the truth and believe 
on him. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, you can turn back to Matthew 
chapter 26.